Dulcet

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words... (For the entire story, please click on the 'Loose Grate' link below.)

They watched as the mighty being soared upward. From its beak came a banshee wail. It turned, treaded air with short flapping bursts, stared at them with sanguine eyes. Its beak opened again; instead of a wail there came a dulcet voice, ‘I look forward to your visit.’ With that, the figure disintegrated.

The thin one’s shoulders rose and fell as he breathed a deep, regretful sigh.

‘Are you okay?’ asked the fat one.

The thin one shook his head. ‘Of course I’m not okay!’ He whirled around, his stick raised. ‘All because of…’ But he didn’t finish; instead he leapt to his left as the giant plummeted to the ground.

Swooped

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words... (To read from the beginning, click on the 'Loose Grate' link below.)

‘Thank you,’ uttered the giant.

‘Put him down,’ the thin one responded bluntly.

The giant lowered the fat one to the ground.

‘And the stick?’

‘Stick?’

‘Yes, you picked up a stick. I want it back.’

‘I’m sorry. I don’t have your stick.’

The thin one unsheathed his stick and pointed it at the giant’s shin. ‘Don’t test me.’

‘Wait, wait,’ the fat one cried. ‘There it is!’ He pointed a few yards away.

The thin one glanced over to confirm. ‘Go get it,’ he ordered the fat one.

But he wasn’t fast enough. In mere seconds, a golden figure swooped from the sky and snatched the stick from the ground.  

Grazed

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words... (Click on the 'Loose Grate' label to read the entire story)

The giant scooped up the fat one into his enormous hands as the beast launched from the ground. It opened its jaws much like an alligator and aimed for the fat one. But once it opened its jaws, it could no longer see the target, a minor evolutionary disadvantage for the otherwise deadly creature. The giant turned its back, shielding the fat one. The beast missed the intended target. But its transparent teeth grazed the giant’s arm, drawing blood. The beast landed on its feet, swiveled, readied to attack again. It made the motion to pounce but fell down dead instead. Beside the expired beast, the tall one sheathed his stick.

Giant

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words...


They ran as fast as their diminutive legs could carry them. Behind them came a sound like chattering teeth followed by an ear-shattering squeal. From the bush exploded a sleek creature with azure fir. Scarlet eyes shone from its elongated face. Where ears should be, the creature had black jutting horns, one of which had been badly mauled.


‘Run!’ the thin one yelled. The fat one lagged. ‘It’s right behind you!’ He stopped, pulled out his stick and turned just in time to be flattened by his fat partner. The creature slowed, squealed. The creature’s transparent fangs magnified its orange innards as it prepared to pounce.


Then the giant stepped in.

Rustling

‘It isn’t moving.’

‘I know.’

‘But you said we’d follow…’

‘I know what I said,’ he hissed.

The giant twisted its head, glanced in their direction.

They froze.

The giant looked away.

The thin one backhanded his companion.

‘Why’d you do that?’

‘For making me yell at you.’

‘Huh?’ was all he could muster.

They turned back to the road. The giant had vanished.

‘Now you’ve done it.’

‘What?’

‘He’s gone.’

‘Who?’

‘The giant!’

‘Oh.’

‘And that means the stick!’

‘Oh no.’

They both heard a familiar rustle. Without both sticks, there was only one thing they could do.

‘Run!!’ the thin one screamed.

But he knew there was no escape.

Sticks

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words...

‘What is it?’

‘How should I know?’

They poked at it with small sticks.

‘Is it alive?’

‘How can we tell?’

They jabbed harder, mostly at its legs and arms.

‘We can’t just leave it.’

‘Why not?’

‘It’s blocking the road.’

‘So? Let it be someone else’s problem.’

The fat one stuck the stick in its ear. It flinched, causing the two to dart behind a tree.

‘What did you do?’ the thin one hissed.

‘I don’t know.’

‘Where’s your…’

‘I dropped it.’

‘You what!?’

They glanced back and watched as it sat up. It held the stick.

‘What do I do?’

The thin one stared at it. ‘We follow it.’

Reintegration

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words... (Please note that this is a continuation of the story posted on March 6th.)

Reintegration is a tricky business. If not disintegrated expertly, transformations can range from horrific to comical. Still, it is better to be disintegrated by a kindhearted buffoon than a malicious disintegrator since the latter can scramble innards like a whisk can eggs.

An expert can, of course, control all aspects of the process from the first to the last molecule; those old enchantresses can make the process an absolute pleasure or a stark lesson in pain no matter their moral leanings.

For him who fell through that loose grate, the process proved downright agonizing. After all, it’s unwise to lose patience with any Integrator never mind one as powerful as she.

Loose Grate

I give to you a story in eleventy-one words...

‘I stepped onto a loose grate.’

‘A great what?’

‘No, a grate. A metal criss-cross thing on the sidewalk.’

She peered at him with her bulging indigo eyes. ‘I see.’

He felt his patience waning. ‘For the last time, can you help me?’

‘With what?’

‘With getting home!‘ he retorted angrily.

‘Beware your hastiness,’ she hissed. Her eyes transformed to an iridescent yellow.

He breathed.

Her eyes reverted to indigo. ‘This much is certain; you cannot return whence you came.’

‘So, what do I do?’

‘What we all must do to find our way home,’ she whispered. With that she closed her eyes, touched his hand, and watched as he disintegrated.